Is it Richard or is it Lee? Well actually, it's both! :-P
I should probably just pick one and stick with it for my website though, eh?! The problem is, my URL is rhowellphotography. The script at the top of my site reads Photography by Lee Howell, but this blog says it belongs to Richard Howell!
Just a friendly note of apology for any confusion I've caused. Richard & Lee, we are one and the same...And chances are I'll continue to use both names!
With all that being said...What the hell makes me any better than all the rest?! Let me tell you...
A.) I shoot 90% candid - I like the posed shots even LESS than you do. However, I do shoot posed shots because there is a certain value to them.
B.) I give you full access to the originals.......Good God, should I repeat that?! Am I crazy?! No - You paid me to shoot your wedding, and it's my duty to provide you with what you've paid for. That doesn't mean that you can take my photos and edit them to your heart's content and then pass it off as something I took...I have a few barriers in place to protect myself there...But in general it means that if you'd rather save the file and print it yourself, be my guest - But I promise that my prints will look better than yours! It's my time, and it's your photo - That's the exchange. BTW - I strongly encourage password protection on your galleries...It not only protects my work, but it protects your images from being manipulated by random passer-bys (Not to mention wedding photographers who pass other people's work of as their own to get business...See my previous post Photography Theft for more on that!) But again, that's your choice.
C.) I do my own editing, and I edit every photo. I may take over 1000 photos, but I may only choose to post 400...That's because I may have 20 shots of you cutting the cake and we could make a cut-action movie out of all the still shots put together! But I choose and edit the best ones from each batch on a case-by-case basis. I know my way around Photoshop pretty well, which means your image will be of higher caliber than a standard out-of-camera photograph. I have my own editing style, which comes from years of practice, but I also recognize the importance of keeping editing at a minimum in order to preserve the sanctity of my art! I would rather be known for taking amazing photographs rather than doing amazing editing.
Sure, I could devise a system say where every fourth photo is automatically converted to black & white...That would save me so much time! And the less smiling my clients do upon viewing these photos would reduce the number of wrinkles in their skin...I think I've got a market niche here, what about you?!
D.) I arrive early and I stay until the job is done...Enough said. None of this 4 hour package, 6-hour package, $500 for every extra 30 minutes rubbish.
E.) It's me, myself and I (and my incredible fiancee-that-is-also-an-amazing-assistant Meghan) - Turn-around time is lightening quick compared to others you will tell you two months and then have them to you by your one year anniversary. On average, it takes me two weeks.
F.) I shoot digital, but I also shoot "old-fashioned" 35mm black and white film. And I hand-develop the negatives and prints! In essence, that means I know a little more about what I'm doing than your average Joe. Mistakes are a little more costly when you're in the darkroom, and you learn fast.
G.) Cost...I am not intangible...yet! Contact me for pricing! I'll let my portfolio do the rest of the convincing for you...
I'm a well-rounded and friendly person who won't push your guests around to get the shot I need...I'm the fly on the wall who captures every detail without intruding on what will no doubt be one of the most amazing nights of your life. A wedding is YOUR day, and this is my way of doing a little self-advertisement and letting you know that I'm the right person to shoot it.
Warning! We're diving head-first into some very cynical behavior...
We've all been there before...Your best friend gets her wedding photos back three months later and stands before the monitor awe-struck...Not at how amazing they turned out, but at the sudden realization that all her money just went right down the drain!
It's very similar to going to a new mechanic and getting shafted out of money while your car still sits in a state of disrepair, but is has that shiny new muffler! Your money flies out of our pocket and the service you've received in return is comparable to the service George Bush has provided our nation these past 8 years - Zilch! Sorry if I've offended with that stab...I'm getting off track here, and possibly reducing my future customer base (Call me, I promise I really am a nice guy) :-P
So here are some problems I have with my "competition" in general and a few things you should keep in mind before making your choice...But you guys keep it up please, because you're making me look friggin awesome:
A.) You hire John Doe photography to shoot your wedding, only John Doe has been dead for 10 years, and they send the apprentice-in-training, Joe Schmoe.
Even assuming they told you John Doe wouldn't be shooting your wedding, why did you agree to have some random person come in and shoot your wedding without meeting them first and getting a feel for THEIR individual style?! Every pro shoots their own way - Every amateur shoots the same way you do...You figure the moral to that story out on your own.
B.) You hire a wedding photographer because they charge the most money.
Good for you - There's an 80% chance you'll have some amazing photos to share afterward, because most people who put themselves in that bracket are legit. But in all honesty, I've seen the other 20% show it's ugly butt more often than not. Does that mean I personally would not love to be paid $5000 per wedding?! Heck, that would be awesome...But I'm also not out to screw people over. If you've got the money and you roll lucky sevens like no tomorrow, then go for it! If not, call me (I promise I really am a nice guy).
C.) Do I want the Rose Package or the Silver Spoon Package
This translates into - Do I pay $4000 for $70 worth of product or do I pay $3500 for $70 worth of product? Profit is a beautiful thing - don't get me wrong, but believe it or not I make money shooting weddings without cutting any major arteries.
D.) The paparazzi tag-team approach
I just love going to a wedding and seeing four or five photographers, because that obviously means you'll have even more amazing photos, right?! Well no, not exactly...It just means you'll be paying more. And unless the bride will be teleporting between the Moon and Mars (I've seen it happen), then one photographer "should" be enough to cover one wedding...I say "should" because I can certainly think of several situations where a second assistant would come in handy.
E.) The amazing photographer who doesn't have to edit a single shot!
It's true...Some people are just so amazingly talented that they can snap a digital photo in horrendous lighting, dump it into their PC and email it to you without a single touch of editing, and the photo is a masterpiece of utter beauty. I mean, I've done it before - It's really quite incredible...
But nine times out of ten I usually like to review and edit my photos before I send them away...Some require extensive editing to get the look and feel I'm going for, and others require just a second or two of minor work. But you would be amazed at how often I see wedding photos that are completely unaltered that would have taken maybe two or three extra minutes to go from ho-hum to bada-bing!
Why is it that these people don't take that extra time? Oh that's right...It's because they have ten staff members working photos from two months ago from a wedding they weren't even at while their photographers are out carelessly snapping photos at ten more weddings that weekend and consultants are busy collecting money from their next unsuspecting victims...er I mean clients.
F.) You let your cousin's nephew's brother-in-law's roommate take the photos because he took this one amazing photo of the sunset five years ago.
Maybe this guy will blow you away with natural ability that has been masked all these years with his point-and-shoot Nikon. He'll become the next Gary Fong of wedding photography and you'll all laugh together and tell stories about how you paid him in beef stroganoff that night. Or maybe you'll get diddly squat...If you're on such a tight budget that a photographer isn't an option, then I suppose that's your only choice. But try to remember - As my brother-in-law Jimmy Gillis (amazing musician) often says to me, after it's all said and done, the cake and flowers are gone and all you have left are those photos...So budget appropriately. Your cousin's nephew's brother-in-law's roommate can still eat the beef stroganoff and you can still laugh and tell stories...
G.) You hire solely based off the photographer's online portfolio
A lot of us have reached that point where doing business solely online and through email. It's such a breeze, and we enjoy it so much that we forget we're human...And humans err! And lie!
How do you know the person you're hiring is the same person who took those shots you loved so much in the online portfolio?! Even if it is the same person, can you be sure that the majority of your photos will be that good in your full gallery? Or will you just have one amazing photo and 200 crappy ones? If you're laughing at that right now, stop...I've seen it happen. A portfolio consist of photos from many different weddings...You need to ask your photographer, "Show me a full gallery from one wedding." If you're still impressed after seeing the full gallery, then you've got yourself a winner!
I'm looking back over old posts (sadly I can count them all on two hands!) and I see all those negative feelings back in March! Yeah, that was a rough time and I needed someplace to vent! Luckily, since then the object of my stress has since departed our office...and I received a promotion and a pay raise! So take everything I said before and reverse it! Things are great, and life couldn't be grander with Meghan and I! Renovations pursue in the upstairs loft at home, and we can't wait to move our bedroom up to that space...That is, once we find homes for the kittens - Two orange tabby cats still need homes, and momma cat Chica is floating around but needs a good place too! I'll have more photos up soon!
Read more...For those who regularly tackle school portraits, I salute you! From organization to development, it is a monstrous task! I take this challenge head-on, knowing that I bring my own unique spin to the table...But let it be known to the parents...I will not be that annoying photographer you laughed at not because they were funny, but because you actually felt sympathy for them at the mere age of five! I'm hoping to get those smiles without disenfranchising one-liners!
In the meantime...Anyone interested a beautiful orange kitten?! Or maybe the not-so-nice-anymore mommy?!
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